MONDO EXTRAS

So in addition to Jen and Christie, tonight's conspicuous absences are Mel and Mike (who weren't really expected), and Mark and Michael (I don't know what the story is there), and the man himself, Phil. I don't know who traveled the furthest to get here tonight, but if Phil had shown up, he would have automatically won, having come all the way from Los Angeles on his bicycle. I guess we can't blame him for pedaling all that way and not wanting to make an appearance; in addition to being totally wrecked, you know that after you've biked three thousand miles, everybody, but everybody, is going to want to touch your ass.

As the party breaks up, I find myself standing next to Steve again, this time in the bathroom. He greets me very warmly for a guy with his thing in his hand. He's enjoyed the party, and as we wash up we talk about Charlottesville, the one city in his home state of Virginia that I've visited. Outside, I mention as much to Linda, and she laughs, "Oh, he'll talk anywhere." She's also loving the evening. "I just want to hug everyone," she says. I do what I can to oblige.

The last I see of them, the holdouts are walking to a dive bar on the next block for the after-party, shouting at Margie not to stop in the middle of the street when she starts jaywalking. I guess one of the little-known effects of going on The Amazing Race is that it makes you impervious to traffic when on foot.

All in all, I came away very impressed with everyone: Stitch for hosting, the organizers for making it happen, the people who went for being such a great crowd, and the Racers, for not only showing up, but being so uniformly good-natured about meeting every single person who came up to them. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves. Even Jaime.

M. Giant is a Minneapolis-based writer with a wife, a son, and a number of cats that seems to have settled at around two. Learn waaaay too much about him at Velcrometer, follow him on Twitter, or just e-mail him at M.Giant[at]gmail.com

Get our take on the Official CBS party as well